{
  "id": 11934226,
  "title": "ChatGPT-6 Astra cracks 217-year-old Napoleonic code in just six hours",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/04/chatgpt-6-astra-cracks-217-year-old-napoleonic-code-in-just-six-hours",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-04T13:08:46.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Tom's Hardware",
    "slug": "tom-s-hardware",
    "url": "https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/chatgpt-6-astra-cracks-217-year-old-napoleonic-code-in-just-six-hours-single-prompt-ai-run-solves-24-rows-of-custom-symbols-from-a-single-image-reveals-lost-troop-orders"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Carter Church, an AI engineer at SentinelOne, utilized GPT-6 Astra to decipher a 217-year-old cipher that had remained unread since the Napoleonic Wars. The cipher, found among Cryptiana's Unsolved Historical Ciphers list, took only six hours for Astra to crack after being given a single image and prompt. Church shared the complete solution package, including a script to regenerate the decryption, on his blog. The deciphered message, not directly from Napoleon, came from Eugène de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy (Napoleon’s stepson) and was a troop briefing to French General Auguste de Marmont, relaying Napoleon's orders. The newly deciphered text fills in missing context from Napoleon’s 1865 memoir, which breaks off mid-sentence indicating Marmont must not be delayed by a few individuals. Cryptiana's Unsolved Historical Ciphers page completes this sentence with \"a gathering of rabble.\" The AI's solution was partially based on a previously unconnected partial key, and it completed the multi-modal workflow within six hours using simulated-annealing solver. The deciphered letter's authenticity is verified by Satoshi Tomokiyo, who maintains the database, and can be independently tested using the published solution package.",
  "summary": "An AI engineer used GPT-6 Astra to reveal the contents of a cipher that hadn’t been read since the Napoleonic Wars. The task was initiated with a single image and prompt, and took just six hours from start to finish.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}